Hoi An, Vietnam.

The moment I had longed for finally came, I could take out my tiny summer dresses, get rid of my terminally ill looking pale skin and switch from hot coffee with condensed milk to the iced version (short-term cooling off, long-term stomach problems: ice isn’t necessarily made from clean water).

My three days in Hoi An were total bliss: lots of good eating (seriously, that banh mi was the best), sizzling in the sun, morning bike ride to the beach (aka getting sunburned at 9 am), more bike rides (I’m too Dutch to function – riding a bike feels like home to me), visiting the My Son sanctuary and getting some cheap tailor-made shoes and dresses (whoops, this was not included in the budget).

I really started to appreciate smaller cities during this holiday. Who needs to live in a city with smogged filled air and long commutes 20 million people anyway?

DIY: Get a small cup of strong, fragrant Vietnamese coffee with just the right amount of condensed milk in it and a glass of ice. Pour coffee over ice. Enjoy.

Phở bò happened. Like I wasn’t sweating enough already.

Bánh xèo – pancake-thingy made of rice batter, stuffed with a little bit of pork, shrimps, diced green onion and bean sprouts. Roll it into a rice papper wrap and stuff with fresh mint, basil and more fragrant herbs and dip into a sweet and sour fish sauce. Stuffing things is always good.